1 For thousands of years, the Nile River has flowed through Egypt. Each year the waters from East Africa would flow toward the Nile. Each year these waters brought minerals and nutrients with them. These nutrients and minerals were left on the banks of the Nile when all the water gathered at the river and flooded. This was good for the people of Egypt. What the waters left behind made the land wonderful for farming.2 More and more people came to the Nile area to farm and build cities. At the first waterfall on the Nile, the city of Aswan was built. As the city grew, so did the problems that were created. When the waters from the eastern part of Africa were high, the floods caused farmers to lose crops. When the waters were too low, a drought caused the farmers to lose their crops. The drought often caused a famine in the area. A famine is a very serious shortage of food. When there isn't enough water for crops, crops don't grow. When crops don't grow, no food is produced. When no food is produced, people go hungry.3 In the late 1800s, it was decided that a dam should be built on the Nile to help control the flooding. The British began to build this dam near Aswan in 1899. They finished their work in 1902. It didn't take long before people realized that the dam was too low to control the high waters. The height of the dam was raised in 1912. It had to be raised a second time in 1933.